by Jodi S. Cohen and Haru Coryne: For More Info, Go Here…
Within three weeks, the Bria of Geneva nursing home went from one case of COVID-19 to two dozen residents dead and at least 75 infected. Delayed testing and gaps in nursing home data obscure the true toll of the crisis.
Standing outside a window at the Bria of Geneva nursing home one morning last week, 2-year-old Rosa Morrow tried to get her grandmother’s attention. She held her palm to the screen. She blew kisses. She counted slowly, “1 … 2 … 3 …”
On the other side, 71-year-old Claudette Stasik, who has tested positive for COVID-19, sat in her reclining wheelchair, her eyes closed and her arms crossed against her chest, her gray hair braided to one side. A nurse, wearing gloves, gently rubbed her hand.
“Can you say hi? Wake up, honey. You have visitors.”
Separated by the glass — and by a devastating outbreak of the coronavirus at this facility in the western suburbs of Chicago — Stasik’s son Scott and his family can only attempt to communicate with her through a FaceTime call.
“Hi, Mom. We’re over here. Can you look over this way?” her son said. Stasik opened her eyes, but only for a moment.
It’s been a brutal few weeks at Bria of Geneva, which has experienced one of the largest and deadliest outbreaks of the coronavirus in the state, according to a ProPublica Illinois analysis of Illinois Department of Public Health data.
Since mid-April, 75 of the nursing home’s 91 residents and 37 of its 120 workers have tested positive for the virus. Twenty-four residents have died from COVID-19, the most recent on Monday, according to Bria of Geneva and the coroner’s office in Kane County, where the facility is located.
